Saturday, May 3, 2008

In-Progress On Saturday: Pre-Race Programming

It will be a one hour Saturday morning version of NASCAR Now that kicks-off the day for NASCAR fans at 10AM Eastern Time. The show will be anchored from the ESPN studios and will feature live reports from Richmond. It will be ESPNEWS on-the-air after the race with coverage of the Infield Media Center interviews and highlights.

SPEED begins the NASCAR day at 3:30PM Eastern with Tradin' Paint. This week it will be Washington Post reporter and veteran NASCAR writer Liz Clarke joining Kyle Petty and host John Roberts. It should be interesting to see what they have to say about the big Friday night TV network simulcast of the Nationwide Series race. Clarke's recent NASCAR book, One Helluva Ride, is a great read for fans.

NASCAR Performance follows at 4PM and this show has been building a big audience. Larry McReynolds hosts the show and has Chad Knaus and Bootie Barker along on his crew chief panel. This fast-paced thirty minute show is worth watching or recording, both for its outstanding information and also its very good sense of humor.

NASCAR in a Hurry is up next at 4:30PM, and either Randy Pemberton or Adam Alexander will be recapping the best video from the past twenty-four hours. This show is a cross between Entertainment Tonight and SportsCenter. Lots of video with a host that simply introduces the next feature. It is an easy way for fans to get caught-up on what has gone on in practice, qualifying and the Nationwide Series race.

At 5PM, it is time for "the franchise" to hit the air. RaceDay will be two hours of chaos as usual and that is exactly what fans of the show enjoy. John Roberts will be hosting alongside Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace.

This week's show will have Robby Gordon as a live guest. Gordon has some interesting stories to tell about his recent rally adventures as well as a NASCAR team update. Wendy Venturini's Real Deal segment this week will feature Casey Mears.

There will also be a recap of the staged photo opportunity recently at Darlington involving Carl Edwards and NASCAR legend David Pearson. It was this column in the The Daly Planet that informed readers of the hilarious and outspoken interview Pearson gave to Nicole Manske at NASCAR Now that day. It should be interesting to see how SPEED chooses to present the same information.

A very positive feature on RaceDay will be a report on the NASCAR ties to the upcoming ARCA race at Rockingham. This track has been restored to working order and has been the scene of many test sessions, but Sunday the ARCA guys will be putting fifty cars (last season's Cup cars) on the track for what should be a great show. Kudos to Andy Hillenburg and the entire dedicated Rockingham staff.

Two notes for viewers. ESPN pit reporter Jamie Little and Mike Skinner are featured in the post-produced Toyota Celebrity race from Long Beach, CA on SPEED at 3PM. Also, SPEED will continue to keep Victory Lane on Sunday after the SPEED Report. Viewers looking for post-race content will have to turn to ESPNEWS.

This post will serve to host your comments about this "block" of pre-race programming on Saturday. There will be a new post up for the Sprint Cup race at 6PM, one hour prior to airtime.

The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page. Thank you for taking time to stop by and share your opinion.

"Also, SPEED will continue to keep Victory Lane on Sunday after the SPEED Report."

JD, again I think many fans want or need (if they don't have ESPNEWS) this post race coverage from SPEED. This forces fans to wait an ENTIRE day after the race to see a post-race show. Why can't SPEED put Victory Lane on Saturday in addition to having in in its "Sunday racing block" with wind tunnel and SPEED report? JD, I think you should do a column on that.

I actually agree with Speed about VL on Sunday. By the time the race ends Sat night I am toast. I've been sitting in front of the TV for at least 4 hours and it's usually 6 counting RaceDay etc. I have reached Nascar overload and am ready to call it a night. If it was shown Sat late I would DVR and watch the next day

Rutledge needs to be kicked to the curb. He is just gawd awful, and by far the worst on-air talent of anyone across all NASCAR TV networks. He is just dead weight on RaceDay. The show would be much better without him. If I wanted lame attempts at humor, I'd watch a comedy. I watch RaceDay for pre race news.

The back haul feed goes up to the satellite (or via a fiber optic line) directly from the site of the event. (in this case the track)The network (ESPN, Speed or whoever) then takes the back haul feed and adds in the break material. Now, the back haul feed becomes the front haul feed. The local stations then take the front haul feed and send it out to you. Generally the front haul feed has locations within the show where your local station can put there own material in.

So watching back haul feed of the race in SD is better than watching the front haul feed in HD.

JD can tell you how nice it is to watch the back haul!

The cameras are still following the action during the breaks and that is how I saw Reut. spin during the break late night. Tonight however I will be watching at home instead of at work so no back haul for me.

@newracefan--true but it's still early on the west coast so they would be up and those like me who don't know how to take themselves to bed would still be up. *or* at least can record it and watch during the day Sunday and not have to wait.

@JD--I don't think they did Tradin' Paint today, I double checked the recording and it was dusk behind the gang and it was getting darker as the show went on.

@Lisa--they talked about the Stephen-Kylie incident in the opening segment.

Sorry I did forget about the West Coast but the length of time still stands. If there isn't at least somewhat of a break between race end and VL I pay much less attention or DVR for later. Unless of course my driver won then I am ordering out for dinner and watching.

Wow! I missed a couple moments of Trading Paint and TOTALLY missed the Steve Wallace talk. Darn it..also got a call into the show towards the end.

TP and NP NEED STANDARD TIMES AND REPEATS. I love NP and really loved the tech stuff they showed today. That is MUST SEE TV if you are a detail freak like me. The more I know the better I like it. They used to cover this stuff once in a while on INC (back when SPEED had a FUN "CONVERSATIONAL TALK SHOW ON MONDAY and not some video filled trainwreck, but as i was saying.

I love the emails of questions and the trio of Larry, Chad and Booty. That show DESERVES MORE ATTENTION.

JD, don't you think NP should be part of a Monday night block on SPEED since most of us think TWIN in it's CURRENT FORMAT STINKS? TP would be good Mon PM as well.

I also miss VL being after the CUP race..they did that a LOT last season and STILL would repeat it on Sun before the SPEED Report.

Sadly, SPEED has made many tv show blunders...RUINING the discussion of the SUNDAY RACE for 40 minutes on INC and not showcasing some shows that MANY WOULD ENJOY!!! TP and NP.

I am so jealous you get to watch that feed when you are at work! Sounds awesome!

I have to go to NYC the rest of the year and will be living in a corp apt - which has basic cable.... No HD, NO DTV, NO Hotpass, NO Speed, NO F1, probably no Classic for the rest of the season!!!!! I am excited about working in NYC, but SO UPSET about losing so much nascar/racing coverage!!!!

I thought about getting DTV to Go, but it is still WAY too expensive so I will have to rely on SD network, internet and this great site!!! Needless to say, I will be living vicariously through your access to see the back haul feed!!

You have my sympathies for losing so much access to NASCAR with your trip to NYC. I hope you enjoy the city. My neice lives there but I can't imagine a concrete jungle. She and her fiance went from St. Thomas in the virgin islands with a GORGEOUS sunset view everynight, to a Loft in Brooklyn!! they did move upstairs and now have a distant view of the Empire State Building and LOVE living with subways and no driving!! They adapted well.

So far so good. Thanks to Kenny on Raceday for taking the high road. Very impressive to say right off the bat " I can't talk about Stephen" that showed how professional you are. Then you gave a great statement after JR said it would be all right. Rutledge does at least get everyone off track for some half-baked silliness during all the high pressure of everyone having to be "politically correct and perfect"I enjoyed the explanation of the 7-post rig. It would be nice if they would do a series explaining what the individual parts do and how they help. Not to in depth though, I ain't that smart. I haven't noticed and dead horse beatings yet, but Digger is there, they still have time.Enjoyable so far.Hey JD, can we get spell check? I'm not to good at this, a good speller would help.That's pretty cool, their using "Live" in car timing for the ticker. What a novel idea?!